English Open returns, and it could have a glorious future

The DP World Tour and England Golf announced plans to resurrect the English Open, one of the most historic national Open titles in the game, last month, and confirmed that in 2026 and 2027 the event will be played as a HotelPlanner Tour event.

In a press release the DP World Tour said: Working in partnership, the two organisations will bring the tournament back on the HotelPlanner Tour this year and in 2027, with the aspiration to have the English Open feature on the DP World Tour schedule in 2028.

The ‘English Open supported by HotelPlanner’ will take the place of the existing England Golf Challenge this year and will be played at The Vale Golf Club in Worcestershire from June 18-21, the tournament also featuring an increased prize fund of £300,000. Details of the tournament’s staging on the 2027 HotelPlanner Tour and the staging on the 2028 DP World Tour will come at a later date.

The Vale is the host course in 2026 and 2027

Guy Kinnings, Chief Executive of the DP World Tour, said: “We are delighted with today’s announcement that, together with England Golf, we will be returning one of golf’s most prestigious titles to the global stage. It is a title with great resonance, hence this is a significant moment for us.

“This is also a new era for the relationship between our two organisations and we look forward to working together to help progress all aspects of the game in England.

“For over 50 years national Opens have been a cornerstone of our international schedule, tournaments rooted in tradition and ones which shine a spotlight on the countries we play, the relationships we have fostered in these countries over decades, and on the communities that host them. The English Open’s return reflects that heritage.”

Jeremy Tomlinson, Group Chief Executive Officer of England Golf, said: "All of us at England Golf are excited to be entering into this new partnership with the DP World Tour to promote and deliver the English Open. Our player development pathway has a proud heritage of producing some of the finest golfers in the world, and we are committed to maintaining that record.

“By reinstating the English Open and partnering with the DP World Tour and the HotelPlanner Tour, many of our young squad players will have the opportunity to not only experience professional tournament golf, but also begin to acclimatise to life in the professional ranks.

“With clear ambitions to elevate the English Open back onto the main tour, this will provide another inspiring national platform to showcase everything that is great about our game in England.”

The English Open was first played in 1979, and enjoyed a run on the European Tour until 2002, and visited the Belfry, Royal Birkdale, Forest of Arden and Hanbury Manor, and was won by Seve Ballesteros, Manuel Pinero, Greg Norman, Howard Clark, Mark James, David Gilford, Ian Woosnam, Colin Montgomerie, Philip Walton, Robert Allenby, Per-Ulrik Johansson, Lee Westwood, and Darren Clarke before its demise in 2003. The tournament was set to be revived for the 2009 season at St Mellion in Cornwall, but the global financial crisis of 2008 put paid to the aspirations of the European Tour, and the event was shelved again.

In the post-pandemic years of 2021 and 2022 the event returned as the Cazoo Classic, with events staged at the iconic Hillside Golf Club in Southport, next door to Royal Birkdale, and the London Golf Club near Brands Hatch.

The Open Championship is obviously the biggest golf event in the UK, and the BMW PGA Championship is clearly the biggest event held annually in England, but the English Open could become one of the great annual golfing festivals and visit a wide variety of inland and links courses which no longer feature on the DP World Tour schedule, and have not been hosts of The Open.

The first two editions of the revived event will be staged on the Challenge Tour, and at The Vale in Worcestershire in the same week as the US Open, but when it returns to the DP World Tour in 2028 it will clearly be moved to a different date. That date should be part of a Great European Summer, built around The Open, following the US Open. The Olympic Games will radically alter the DP World Tour schedule in 2028, with The Open moving to the first week in August, so it is entirely possible that the revived English Open won't be a significant part of the calendar until 2029.

The English Open will surely be played on premier golf courses across the country, and discounting Royal Birkdale (Open Championship rota) and The Belfry (British Masters host), its previous host courses will likely all be in contention to host future editions of the championship. Forest of Arden (Warwickshire), Hanbury Manor (Hertfordshire), The London Golf Club (Kent) and Hillside (Merseyside) are all outstanding courses and venues, and it is possible that past DP World Tour host courses St Mellion, Walton Heath, Woburn, Slaley Hall, Close House and The Grove are viewed as potential future venues for the English Open.

Trevose has hosted the Legends Tour

Personally I would like to see the English Open spend some time in the South West of England and visit Bowood (Wiltshire), Trevose (Cornwall), Saunton (Devon) and Burnham and Berrow (Somerset). I would also like to see the English Open visit the North West and play at Formby, West Lancashire and Wallasey, and visit the likes of Ganton, Moortown and the home of England Golf - Woodhall Spa, in Lincolnshire.

The English Open will never be 'The Open', but the variety of courses across England can help to elevate the English Open, and make it a core part of a golfing summer which is unmissable.

SHANK, by Matt Hooper

Matt Hooper is an Associate Member of the Sports Journalists Association